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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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LESSONS 



IN 



PUBLIC SPEAKING 



AND 



ORAL READING 



LESSONS 



PUBLIC SPEAKING AND ORAL READING 



CLASS OR PRIVATE DRILL 



JOHN Rv PELSMA, Ph. M. 

Instructor in Public Speaking, University of Texas, Austin, Texas 



AUSTIN, TEXAS 

VON BOECKMANN-JONES CO., PRINTERS 
1916 



\' 



Copyright, 1916 by 
JOHN R. PELSMA 




CLA4463GC 



OCT 27 1916 

*VVvf ( 



CONTENTS 



Part Oxe. 

PAGE. 

Lesson I. The Voice 7 

Breathing and Voice Culture. 

Lesson II. Enunciation 11 

Definition. 

Table of Elementary English Sounds. 

Position and Shape of Tongue in Vowel Elements. 

Table of Consonant Sounds. 

Exercises. 

Lesson III. Pronunciation 15 

Definition. 

Syllabification. 

Accent. 

Pronunciation. 

Exercises in Pronunciation. 

Lesson 1 V. Melody 21 

Definitions. 

Exercises in Various Keys. 

Lesson V. Melody ( continued ) 25 

Inflection. 

Exercises. 

The Slide. 

Melodic Changes in Pitch. 

Lesson VI. Emphasis 29 

Definitions. 

Exercises in Emphasis. 

Climax. 

Subordination. 

Lesson VII. Movement 33 

Definitions. 

Pate. 

Pause. 

Quantity. 

Transition. 



4 Contents. 

PAGE. 

Lesson VIII. Force 39 

Definitions. 

Loudness. 

Volume. 

Intensity. 

Stress. 

Lesson IX. Quality 45 

Definitions. 
Atmosphere. 
Tone-color. 
Word- color. 

Lesson X. Physical Expression 51 

Definition. 

Exercises. 

Inaugural Address, Woodrow Wilson. 

Temperance Address, John B. G-ough. 

APPENDIX. 

Representative Emotions 55 

Questions and Directions for Written Eeport 58 



PREFACE 

The following exercises have been arranged as suitable material 
for drill in connection with any standard texts on public speak- 
ing, or expression. 

The selections are well adapted to illustrate the various tone 
modulations: they are from standard authors, and are, for the 
most part, literary gems. The student should repeat them over 
and over, and with each repetition become more proficient in his 
attempt to acquire a pure distinct, flexible, and expressive voice. 

Many selections can be used to illustrate exercises other than 
those under which they appear. 

Our aim has been not originality but utility. 

J. E. P. 

Austin, Texas, January 1, 1916. 



LESSON I. 

THE VOICE. 



Frontal cavity 




"Root" of tongue 
Base of tongue 



Hyoid bone 



•Sphenoidal cavity 
Nasal cavities 



Uvula 

Throat chamber 



Cricoid cartilage 



Median section of the head and neck, giving general side view of the organs 
of speech and the resonators above the larynx. 

Bkeath Control and Tone. — Diaphragmatic breathing is ab- 
solutely essential for proper breath control. 

Pure Tones are those that contain only harmonious overtones 
and in which all the breath is vocalized. 

Impure Tones contain discordant secondary vibrations. These 
secondary vibrations are due to obstructions in the throat. 

Practice the following exercises to secure diaphragmatic breath 
control and a pure tone. 



EXERCISES IX BREATHING AND VOICE CULTURE. 

1. Lie on your back on a couch and breathe normally, quietly. 
This may be done in the morning before you get up. Your body 



S Lessons in Public Speaking axd Oral Eeadixg. 

will then be free from all tight fitting clothing. You will dis- 
cover that you breathe in the middle of the body, not near your 
collar bone. 

2. Xow take in just a little more air than is needed. Hold 
it a few seconds and then let go completely. 

3. Take in more air: hold it a little longer, and again relax 
completely — let go all at once. 

4. Eepeat (1), (2) and (3) breathing through your mouth. 

5. Sit erect in a chair and make yourself breathe in just the 
same way you did while lying down, repeating (2), (3) and (4). 

6. Xow stand erect and perforin (2) and (3). 

This may be difficult at first, especially is it difficult for many 
girls. But inter-costal combined with diaphragmatic breathing 
must be secured, or you may as well give up all hopes of ever 
becoming either a reader, a speaker or a singer. 

7. Xow open your mouth about an inch ; keep tongue lying 
flat and with no feeling of weight, between the lower teeth, the 
tip touching the lower front teeth. Xow open your mouth in the 
back as well as in the front; open your throat as wide as pos- 
sible : and while you are doing all this take in a good deep breath, 
and be sure your waist-band seems to tighten. By placing your 
hands on your hips you may be able to detect this lateral expan- 
sion. Xow let the breath escape slowly, and control the escape 
by the diaphragm and not by closing the epiglottis. 

8. Eepeat (T), but as you let the breath escape say, "ah/ 5 as 
lightly as you can, and then relax completely. Be sure this sound 
is cut off' short — just a little, little tap — not a prolonged ah — 
ah — ah. When you relax let go completely, and your breath will 
escape normally. It requires an effort to inhale, not to exhale. 

9. Eepeat (8) twenty times. You may get dizzy at first, but 
if this exercise is practiced a short time daily you will soon be- 
come accustomed to the excess of oxygen. 

There are four points that should be carefully observed: (1) 
Be sure that your tongue lies perfectlv flat. (2) That your 
mouth opens in the back as well as in front. Let your jaw drop. 
This can be detected by observing that the lower lip covers the 
lower front teeth. Again, if you will place your finger against the 
side of your face just in front of the ear you will notice a de- 
pression forming as you open your mouth. (3) When you give 



Lessons ix Public Speakixg axd Oeal Eeadixg. 9 

the sound of "ah" you must know that the breath is checked by 
the diaphragm and not by closing the epiglottis. The breath must 
never be held by any stoppage in the throat. (1) The open 
throat is essential. In the initial stage of the yawn the throat 
opens property, and the jaw drops down in the correct way. This 
feeling of relaxation should be felt in performing the above 
exercises. 

10. Pant like a dog, only be sure your tongue stays at its 
proper place — flat on the floor of the mouth. 

11. Eepeat with one breath, the following line from Browning: 
"Boot, saddle, to horse, and away/*' Have four distinct diaphrag- 
matic impulses. 

12. Laugh: Ha, ha, ha; ha, ha, ha. Note that you nat- 
urally breathe with the diaphragm when you laugh, and that the 
quick spurts of air causing the laughing sound is controlled by 
the diaphragm. 

13. To make sure that you are vocalizing all your breath, use 
this test : Take a deep breath and at vour ordinary rate read as 
many lines as you can of the following: 

"Collecting, projecting, 
Receding and speeding. 
And shocking and rocking, 
And darting and parting, 
And threading and spreading, 
And whizzing and hissing, 
And dripping and skipping, 
And hitting and splitting. 
And shining and twining, 
And rattling and battling, 
And shaking and' quaking. 
And pouring and roaring, 
And waving and raving, 
And tossing and crossing, 
And ^flowing and going, 
And running and stunning, 
And foaming and roaming, 
And dinning and spinning, 
And dropping and hopping, 
And working and jerking, 
And guggling and struggling, 
And heaving and cleaving, 
And moaning and groaning; 



10 Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Beading. 

And glittering and frittering, 
And gathering and feathering, 
And whitening and brightening, 
And quivering and shivering, 
And hurrying and skurrying, 
• And thundering and floundering." 

14. Practice for pure tone: 

a. "Yo ho, lads! Yo, ho, yo, ho!" 
The .captain calls to all below, 
"Joy, joy to all, for we must go, 
Yo ho, lads! Yo, ho! yo, ho!" 

b. O hark, hear! how thin and clear, 

And thinner, clearer, farther going! 
O sweet and "from cliff and scar 

The horns of Elfiand faintly blowing! 
Blow, let us hear the purple glens replying: 
Blow, bugle; answer, echoes, dying, dying, dying. 

c. Since to all earthly work an end must come, our words of fare- 
well to a fellow-workman should not alone be those of grief that man's 
common lot has come to him; but of pride and joy that his task has 
been done worthily. Powerful men so weave themselves into their hour 
that, for the moment, it all but seems the world will stop when they de- 
part. Yet, it does not stop or even pause. 

Albert J. Bevebidge. 



LESSON II. 

ENUNCIATION. 

Enunciation relates to the distinct utterance of the elementary 
sounds and their combinations. 

TABLE OF ELEMENTARY ENGLISH SOUNDS. 



Tonics 



Subtonics 



Atonies 



Single vowel sounds 



' Labials 



a (short) at 

a (before r) fare 

a (long Italian) are 

a (short Italian) ask 

a (broad Italian) all 

e (long) be 

e (short) end 

e (like a) there 

1 (short) It 

6 (short) not 

u (short) but 

60 (long) moon 

do (short) wood 

Compound sounds, 
or diphthongs 

a (long) made 
e (long) eve 
i (long) ice 
6 (long) sole 
ii (long) mute 
ou as in round 
oi as in noise 



B ban 

IT (nasal) man 

V vote 

W will 



P pin 
F fit 
Wb why 



Linenials 



U rate 


T 


tin 


L long 


Ch 


church 


D do 


s 


sin 


N (nasal) nut 


Th 


thin 


J just 


Sh 


shun 


Z zinc 






Th this 






Zh vision 







Palatals 



G go 

Xg (nasal) song 

Y ves 



K king 
H how 
Q queen 



a (6) what 
6 (a) orb 
e (a) eight 



i (e) police 
i (e) bird 
p (oo) do 



o (oo) wolf 
6 (u) son 
u (oo) rude 



u (do) full 
7 (i) fly 
y (I) hymn 
v ( e ) myrtle 



12 Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 
position and shape of tongue in vowel elements. 



Histfi 



Hisrh and wide 



Glide 



Medium 



Front 



e be 



Middle 



i it 



e=e — 1 eve 



Glide 



Low 



Low and wide 



Glide 



Glide 



a at 



e 


end 






a- 


--e-i 


ate 


ah 


(natural) 




a 


ask 




a 


arm 





Back 



00 


moon 




00 


wood 




u= 


-1 00 


mute 


U 


but 




~J= 


-u — 6o 


old 





on 




a 


all 





ou=a — oo house 



oi= a — i voice 



TABLE OF CONSONANT ELEMENTS. 



Oral 



Nasal 



Place of J Articulation 


Momentary 


Continuous 


Continuous 


Surd 


Sonant 


Surd 


Sonant 


Sonant 


Lips 


P 


b 


"f 

th(i 

s 
sh 


w 

n) th(y) 

z, r 
zh, r 


m 


Lip and teeth 




Tongue and teeth 








Tongue and hard palate (for- 
ward) 


t 

ch 
k 
h 


d 
J 
g 


n 


Tongue and hard palate (back) 




Tongue, hard and soft palate.... 


ng 


Various places 



















Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 13 
exercises. 

1. Say: Ah in various pitches. 

2. Eepeat with o, and with oo. 

3. Say: oo — o — ah. 

4. Say: e, a, aw, ah, o, oo. 

5. Say: La, mo, po, to, po, ee. 

6. Count from one to ten. 

7. Count from twenty to thirty. 

8. Short a: add, had, mad, last, mast, past, chance, and, 
lance, glance. 

9. Short e: bend, end, lend, mend, rend, send, tend, wend. 

bent, dent, lent, pent, rent, sent, went* 

10. Short o: odd, on, mob, rob, bog, dog, loss, toss. 

11. Short i: bid, did, hid, lid, mid, rid. 

12. Long u: lure, tune, dupe, fume, feud, few, new, student, 
stupid, constitution, institution. 

13. Sound of n: an, den. nay, mine, noun, din, sin, win, none. 

14. Sound of m : may, main, am, him, hum, thumb, mamma. 

15. Sound of ing : . bing, fling, ring, sing, thing, wing. 

16. Eepeat the above exercises in a strong whispered tone. 

17. Bead the following to cultivate enunciation: 

An Austrian army, awfully arrayed, 

Boldly by battery besieged Belgrade; 

Cossack commanders cannonading came, 

Dealing destruction's devastating doom ; 

Every endeavor engineers essay 

For fame, for fortune, forming furious fray. 

Gaunt gunners grapple, giving gashes good; 

Heaves high his head heroic hardihood. 

Ibrahm, Islam, Ismael, imps in ill, 

Jostle John Jarovlitz, Jem, Joe, Jack, Jill; 

Kick kindling Kutusoff, kings' kinsmen kill. 

Labor low levels loftiest, longest lines; 

Men march 'mid moles, 'mid mounds, 'mid murderous 

mines. 
Xow nightfall's near, now needful nature nods, 
Opposed, opposing, overcoming odds, 
Poor peasants, partly purchased, partly pressed, 



14 Lessoxs in Public Speaking axd Oral Beadixg. 

Quite quaking. "Quarter! quarter \" quickly quest; 

Eeason returns, recalls redundant rage. 

Some sinking soldiers, softens signiors sage. 

Truce, Turkey, truce ! truce treacherous Tartar truce ! 

Unwise, unjust, unmerciful Ukroine, 

Vaunt, vile vengeance ! vaunt victory vain ! 

Wisdom wails war — Walls warring words, What were 

Xerxes, Xantippe, Ximenes, Xavier? 

Yet Yassy's youth, ye yield your youthful vest; 

Zealous, zanies, zealously, zeal's zest. 



LESSON III. 

PEOXUNCIATIOX. 



Pronunciation relates to the correct 


utterance of the word; 


and includes s} 


llabification, accent, and the proper sound of the 


vowels and consonants. 




Syllabification. — Bring out clearly, and separate distinctly, 


the syllables in 


the following words: 




abominably 


congratulatory 


inviolability 


absolutely 


constitutionality 


irrefragability 


accessory 


deterioration 


justifiableness 


accurately 


disinterestedly 


lugubrious 


adequately 


disingenuousness 


momentarily 


angularly 


generally 


monocotyledonome 


apocalyptic 


hospitabl v 


multiplication 


appropriateness 


idiosyncrasy 


mythological 


authoritatively 


incalculably 


necessarily 


antipathy 


incommensurability 


pacificatory 


articulately 


incomparably 


substantiate 


atmospherical 


immediately 


susceptibility 


chronological 


indisputable 


superiority 


circumlocution 


indissoluble 


temporarily 


citizenship 


inexplicable 


unintelligibility 


colloquially 


institution 


valedictorian 


Accent. — Accent, define, and state the 


part of speech in the 


following: 






absent 


conflict discount 


present 


abstract 


consort extract 


produce 


accent 


contest ferment 


prog] 3S 


affix 


contract frequent 


quarantine 


alternate 


contrast incense 


record 


attribute 


converse increase 


refuse 


augment 


convert insult 


subject 


cement 


convict object 


survey 


collect 


convoy perfume 


torment 


compound 


descant permit 


transfer 


concrete 


detail precedent 


umpire 


confine 


digest premise 

15 


upstart 



16 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 



Pronounce 


the following word 


s; note carefull) 


- the exact vowel 


and consonant sounds : 






abdomen 


address 


alternate 


asphalt 


abject 


adept 


amenable 


associate 


abstemious 


adieu 


aniline 


athlete 


accept 


advertisement 


antarctic 


attorney 


acclimate 


again 


apparatus 


auxiliary 


accurate 


aggrandizement 


apparent 


awry 


across 


ailment 


applicable 


bade 


acumen 


albumen 


aquiline 


balm 


adamantine 


allied 


Arab 


banquet 


adult 


allopathist 


area 


bayonet 


because 


bounteous 


candelabrum 


chasten 


been 


boquet 


canine 


chastisement 


believe 


bravado 


canyon 


Chicago 


betroth 


brigand 


carmine 


clangor 


bicycle 


bronchitis 


catch 


clapboard 


bijou 


bulwark 


cayenne 


clearly 


biography 


buoy 


eel lo 


clematis 


bitumen 


burlesque 


cerement 


clique 


blackguard 


calisthenics 


chalybeate 


coadjutor 


blouse 


calm 


chasm 


cognomen 


column 


contents 


creek 


depot 


combatant 


contrary 


Daniel 


designate 


commandant 


contumely 


daguerreotype 


desperado 


comment 


conversant 


data 


despicable 


communist 


corps 


decade 


desuetude 


compeer 


coterie 


deaf 


detail 


composite 


courier- 


decadence 


dictionary 


condolence 


courtesy 


defalcate 


direct 


consummate 


coyote 


deficit 


disciplinary 


contemplate 


cow 


demoniacal 


discourse 


disputant 


domain 


egregious 


England 


divan 


doth 


education 


English 


docile 


due 


elongate 


enquiry 


dog 


duke 


encore 


envelope 


dolorous 


duty 


enervate 


epoch 



Lessons in Public Speaking and .Oral Reading. 



17 



equitable 


exemplary 


exquisite 


factory 


escapade 


exigencies 


extant 


faucet 


every 


exist 


eyrie 


February 


examine 


exploit 


facade 


fecund 


excess 


exponent 


facet 


feline 


feminine 


finance 


forehead 


gentlemen 


ferocity 


financier 


fungi 


genuine 


fertile 


flageolet 


gape 


gibbet 


fetish 


forensic 


gather 


gigantic 


fiasco 


fragmentary 


generic 


God 


fidelity 


frontier 


genial 


gondola 


government 


hiccough 


hover 


implacable 


granary 


hideous 


humble 


importune 


gratis 


history 


humor 


incentive 


grimace 


homage 


hygiene 


incomparable 


grovel 


homeopathic- 


hypocrisy 


indefatigable 


gymnasium 


horizon 


idea 


indisputably 


harass 


hospitable 


Illinois 


indissoluble 


hearth 


hostage 


illustrate 


inexplicable 


height 


hostile 


imbecile 


inquiries 


heinous 


hovel 


impious 


integral 


interested 


jocose 


languor 


lineament 


interesting 


jocund 


larynx 


listen 


interpolate 


jugular 


laugh 


literature 


intrinsic 


just 


launch 


lithogTaphy 


inveigle 


juvenile 


learned 


livelong 


iodine 


kept 


legend 


Lodi 


irrefragable 


kiln 


lenient 


lower 


Italian 


kinetics 


lettuce 


lozenge 


Iowa 


laboratory 


legate 


lugubrious 


jaunty . 


lamentable 


licorice 


lyceum 


magazine 


mineralogy 


museum 


nauseate 


manufactory 


mischievous 


mustache 


necessarily 


maritime 


misconstrue 


nape 


nephew 


matinee 


mobile 


nascent 


nepotism 


mediocre 


molecule 


national 


neuralgia 


memory 


municipal 


nature 


new 



18 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 



New Orleans 


nothing 


oaths 


objurgatory 


niche 


none 


oath 


obligatory 


nicotine 


now 


obesity 


oblique 


nomenclature 


oasis 


object 


occult 


odor 


ornate 


peremptory 


precedents- 


office 


orotund 


piano 


premature 


often 


orthoepy 


piquant 


prestige 


oleomargarine 


oust 


plagiarism 


pretense 


on 


pageant 


plague 


pretty 


opponent 


palmistry 


pomegranate 


primarily 


orchid 


parliament 


prairie 


principle 


ordeal 


patriotism 


predecessor 


progress 


ordnance 


patron 


preface 


proscenium 


orgies 


patronize 


precedence 


protestation 


puissance 


receptivity 


research 


route 


pyramidal 


recess 


resource 


root 


quadrupedal 


recluse 


respite 


routine 


quay 


reconnaissance 


revocable 


salutatory 


querulous 


recreant 


rhythm 


sandwich 


quiescent 


refutable 


rid 


sapient 


quinsy 


regime 


rinse 


satiety 


qui vive 


remonstrate 


Rio Grande 


schedule 


radish 


reptile 


romance 


secretary 


rapine 


requiem 


roof 


senile 


sergeant 


soporific 


suite 


toward 


serpentine 


sovereign 


suggest- 


transact 


simultaneous 


splenetic 


supererogatory 


travail 


since 


spontaneity 


superfluous ' 


tremendous 


sinecure 


squalor 


taunt 


tribunal 


sirup 


St. Louis 


tenet 


tribune 


sojourn 


stalwart 


tepid 


trilobite 


solitaire 


steady 


testimony 


truculent 


sonorous 


substantiate 


tiny 


truth 


sophistry 


succinct 


topography 


tyrannic 


umbrella 


untoward 


usurp 


vaudeville 


unanimity 


urbanity 


vagary 


vehement 


uninteresting 


usage 


vaseline 


veracity 



Lessons in Public Speakixg axd Oral Reading. 



19 



Versailles 


virulent 


whole 


wreathe 


verbose 


viscount 


whooping 


wreak 


versatile 


visor 


with 


yacht 


version 


Wellesley 


wont 


youth 


via 


wharf 


wound 


youths 


vicar 


which 


Worcester - 


Zaccheus 


victory 


whistle 


wrath 


zoology 



A test in pronunciation : 

This rather curious piece of composition was once placed upon a black- 
board at a teachers" institute, and a prize of a Webster's Dictionary 
offered to any person who could read and pronounce every word cor- 
rectly. The book was not carried off,' however, as twelve was the lowest 
number of mistakes in the pronunciation made: 

"A sacrilegious son of Belial, who suffered from bronchitis, having ex- 
hausted his finances, in order to make good the deficit, resolved to ally 
himself to a comely, lenient, and docile young lady of the Malay or 
Caucasian race. He accordingly purchased a calliope and coral necklace 
of a chameleon hue, and securing a suite of rooms at a principal hotel 
lie engaged the head waiter as a coadjutor. He then dispatched a letter 
of the most exceptional caligraphy extant, inviting the young lady to a 
matinee. She revolted at the idea, refused to consider herself sacrificeable 
to his desires, and sent a polite note of refusal; on receiving which he 
procured a carbine and bowie-knife, said that he would not now forge 
letters hymeneal with the queen, went to an isolated spot, severed his 
jugular vein and discharged the contents of the carbine into his abdomen. 
The debris was removed by the coroner. 1 ' 



LESSON IV. 

MELODY. 

Melody in speech is a pleasing succession of changes in pitch. 

Pitch refers to the relative highness or lowness of a tone. It 
depends on the number of vibrations per second. 

Key is the predominating pitch of the voice in speaking. 

Compass is the range in pitch of the voice. 

Inflectiox refers to the bend or wave of the voice in passing 
from one pitch to another. 

Slides are prolonged inflections extending over a number of 
words. 

Cadence is a term applied to the inflection at the close of a 
sentence. 

exeecises in keys. 

The relative key of a selection is determined by the degree of 
intensity of the emotions to be expressed. In practice, each key 
should be at least four notes apart. 

LOW KEY. 

1. 'lis midnight's holy hour, — and silence now 
Is brooding like a gentle spirit, o'er 
The still and pulseless world. Hark! on the winds 
The bell's deep tones are swelling, — 'tis the knell 
Of the departed year. 
The Closing Year. George D. Prentice. 

2. There is a calm for those who weep, 
A rest for weary pilgrims found; 
They softly lie, and sweetly sleep, 

Low in the ground. 
I long to lay this painful head 

And aching heart beneath the soil — 
To slumber in that dreamless bed 

From all my toil. 
The Grave. Montgomery. 

3. All is peace; and God has granted you this sight of your country's 
happiness, ere you slumber in the grave. He has allowed you to behold 
and to partake of the reward of your patriotic toils; and he has allowed 
us, your sons and countrymen, to meet you here, and in the name of the 
present generation, in the" name of your country, in the name of liberty, 
to thank you! 

Bunker Bill Oration. Webster. 

21 



22 Lessons ix Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 

4. And. anon, there strikes the ebony clock which stands in the hall 
of the velvet. And then, for a moment, all is still, and all is silent 
save the voice of the clock. The dreams are stiff-frozen as they stand. 
But the echoes of the chime die away — they have endured but an in- 
stant — and a light, half-subdued laughter floats from them as they depart. 

Masque of the Red Death. Edgar A. Poe. 

MEDIUM KEY. 

1. If I were a man, a young man, and knew what I know today, 

I would look into the eyes of Life undaunted 

By any fate that might threaten me. 
I would give to the world what the world most wanted — 

Manhood that knows it can do and be; 

Courage that dares and faith that can see 

Clear into the depth of the human soul, 

And find God there, and the ultimate goal, 
If I were a man, a young man, and knew what I know today. 
If I were a Young Man. Ella Wheeler Wilcox. 

2. The accusing spirit that flew to Heaven's chancery with the oath, 
blushed as he gave it in, and the recording angel, as he wrote it down, 
dropped a tear upon the words and blotted it out forever. 



Sterne. 



HIGH KEY. 



1. Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, 

The flying cloud, the frosty light ; 

The year is dying in the night. 

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 

Ring Out Wild Bells. Tennyson. 

2. Hurrah ! hurrah ! the west wind 

Comes freshening down the bay, 

The rising sails are filling, — 
Give way, my lads, give way! . . . 

In the darkness as in daylight, 

On the water as on land, 
God's eye is looking on us, 

And beneath us is his hand ! 
The Fishermen. Whittier. 

3. O come, let us sing unto Jehovah; let us make a joyful noise to 
the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanks- 
giving, let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For Jehovah 
is a great God. and a great King above all gods. 

In his hand are two deep places of the earth; the heights of the moun- 
tains are his also. 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Eeading. 23 

The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land. 
come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Jehovah our 
Maker. For he is our Grod, and we are the people of his pasture, and 
the sheep of his hand. 

Ninety-fifth Psalm. The Bible. 



LESSON V. 

MELODY (Continued)— CHANGE IN PITCH. 

INFLECTION". 

1. Eising: Was it safe? 

2. Falling: The day is done. 

3. Eising Circumflex: Are fleets and armies necessary to a 
work of love and reconciliation? 

4. Falling Circumflex: She is a brave girl; she rules herself. 

5. Double Eising Circumflex : No, I don't think I shall go. 

6. Double Falling Circumflex : "We undertook to mediate for 
the queen." 

7. To mediate for the queen? You undertook? 
Mark the inflections: 

1. I find earth not gray but rosy, heaven not grim but fair of hue. 
Do I stoop ? I pluck a posy. Do I stand and stare ? All's blue. 

Browning. 

2. Marley was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about 
that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, 
the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's 
name was good upon 'Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. 
Old Marley was as dead as a. door-nail. 

The Christmas Carol. Dickens. 

3. You will send your child, will you, into a room where the table 
is loaded with sweet vines and fruit — some poisoned, some not? You 
will say to him. "Choose freely my little child! It is good for you to 
have freedom of choice, it forms your character — your individuality! If 
you take the wrong cup or the wrong berry you will die before the day 
is over, but you will have acquired the dignity of a free child." 

RUSKIN. 

THE SLIDE. 

1. Determine the speaking compass of your voice. Use a piano 
if convenient. 

?. Sing the scale up and down: Do, re, mi, fa. sol, la, ti, do. 
3. Sing the scale by counting: One, two, three, four, five, etc. 
-L Eun the scale by speaking, not singing : One, two, three, etc. 
5. Eepeat on the scale of do, mi, sol, do. 



26 Lessons in Public Speakixg and Oral Reading. 
home ? I 



6. Are 





going 




home. 


bondman ? 


If 


a 


any, 


be 


speak ; 


would 


for 


that 


him 


base 


have 





I 




offended. 



here 



7. Who 

8. Does the road wind up hill all the way? 
Yes, to the very end. 
Will the day's journey take the whole long day? 
From morn to night, my friend. 

But is there for the night a resting place? 

A roof for when the slow dark hours begin. 
May not the darkness hide it from my face? 
You cannot miss the inn. 
Up Bill. E.OSSETTI. 

9. They tell us, sir, that we are weak, — unable to cope with so formid- 
able an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be next 
week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed and 
when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather 
strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of 
effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the de- 
lusive phantom of hope, until our enemy shall have bound us hand and 
foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means 
which the God of nature hath placed in our power. 

Liberty or Death. Patrick Henry. 

MELODIC CHANGES IN PITCH. 

Brutus he biti- 

1. was 

But says am ous. 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 27 

2. done seen him, nor ear has 

the heard 

He has deed. No eye has him, 

and it men, that 

secret is his is tie was 

the own safe. Ah, gen- all 

a 
mistake. 

3. All all 

the and its 

world's men 

a and 

stage women 

merely 
Arrange melodically : players. 

1. Break, break, break, 

At the foot of thy crags, Sea! 

But the tender grace of a day that is dead. 
Will never come back to me. 

Tennyson. 

2. There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave. 

There are souls that are pure and true; 
Then give to the world the best you have. 
And the best will come back to you. 

Bridges. 

3. "Mr. President: It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions 
of hope. We are apt to shut our own eyes against a painful truth, and 
listen to the song of that siren until she transforms us into beasts. Is 
this the part of wise men. engaged in a great and arduous struggle for 
liberty." . Patrick Henry. 

4. A dervish was crossing the desert. Having stopped for the night, 
he ate his frugal meal, drank from his water jug, and fell asleep. 

On waking, in the morning, he found to his dismay that he had been 
robbed of the desert traveler's dearest possessions — his food and drink. 

After debating with himself as to the wisest course of action, he de- 
cided to continue his journey, hoping to find an oasis that would furnish 
him the necessities of life. 

Hours passed, and he had found only a small quantity of water, but 
no food. Suddenly he spied on the sand before him a sack. ''From its 
appearance," he thought, "it must contain either nuts or dates!" Dis- 
mounting from his camel, he eagerly ran to the sack, picked it up and 
tore it open — then dropped it to the ground in disgust. "Ah," he 
lamented, "it contains only pearls." 



LESSON VI. 

EMPHASIS. 

Emphasis is the art of giving to each word its relative im- 
portance. 

Climax is accumulative emphasis. 

Subordination is a term applied to a negative emphasis 
placed on expressions of less than normal value. 

Emphasize the following underscored words by: (1) Stress — 
speaking the word louder; (2) Time — prolonging the word; (3) 
Pause — stopping before or after the word; (4) Inflection — chang- 
ing from one pitch to another, usually a falling inflection; (5) 
Intensity — lowering your voice but using more energy. State 
which method or methods are the more appropriate. 

1. Quoth the raven — "Nevermore." 

2. Inhuman wretch, take that, and that, and that! 

3. I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. 

4. The only rule for obtaining perfection in any art is practice. 

5. Farewell ! A long farewell to all my greatness. 

6. There was a South of slavery and se cession — that South 
is dead. 

7. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament 
showeth his handhvork. 

8. Blaze, with your serried columns; / will not bend the knee. 

9. Away with such follies. 

10. Get thee had- into the tempest and the night's Plutonian 
shore ! 

Emphasize properly : 

1. War! Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have 
neither iired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded 
who cry aloud for more blood., more vengeance, more desolation. War 
is hell. 

General Shermax. 

2. If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels 
had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces. It is a 
good divine that follows his own instructions: I can easier teach twenty 
what were good to be done than to be one of the twenty to follow mine 
own teaching. 

The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare. 

29 



30 Lessons in Public Speaking axd Oeal Beading. 

3. The night has a thousand eyes, 
And the day but one, 
Yet the light of the bright world dies 
With the dying sun. 

The mind has a thousand eyes, 

And the heart but one, 
Yet the light of a whole life dies 
When love is done. 
Light. Francis W. Bolrdillon. 

Examples of Climax: 

1. Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward. 

2. Strike — till the last armed foe expires; 
Strike — for your altars and your fires; 
Strike — for the green graves of your sires; 

God, and your "native land! 
Marco Bozzaris. Halleck. 

3. If I were an American as I am an Englishman, and a foreign troop 
were landed in my country, I would never lay down my arms. Xever^ 
Never ! Never ! 

Burke. 

4. The merchants say to you, — the constitutionalists say to you, — the 
Americans say to you, — and I, I now say, and say to your beard, Sir, — 
You are not an honest man. 

Curran. 

5. "Y'ou remember the story J. Russell Lowell tells of -Webster, when 
we in Massachusetts were about to break up the Whig party. W'ebster 
came home to Faneuil Hall to protest. Drawing himself up to his lofti- 
est proportions, his brow charged with thunder, he exclaimed: 'Gentle- 
men, I am a Whig, a Massachusetts Whig, a revolutionary Whig, a con- 
stitutional Whig, a Faneuil Hall Whig, and if you break up the Whig 
party, where am I to go.' 'And,' says Lowell, 'we all held our breath 
wondering where he could go.' " 

Phillips. 
Examples of Subordination: 

1. Little I ask; my wants are few; 
I only wish a hut of stone; 
A very plain brown stone will do, 
That I may call my own. 

Holmes. 

2. I love, and who does not love, country, home and God? 

3. I went to my fortification not feeling, as we say, the ground I 
walked on. 

Defoe. 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Beading. 31 

4. But, however this may be, when we read, we may not only, if we 
wish it, be kings and live in palaces, but, what is far better, we may 
transport ourselves to the mountains and the seashore. 

Lubbock. 

5. When I canie to my castle, for so I think I called it ever after this, 
I fled into it like one pursued ; whether I went over by the ladder as 
first contrived, or went in at the hole in the rock, which I called a door, 
I cannot remember; no, nor could I remember the next morning; for 
never frighted hare fled to cover, or fox to earth, with more terror of 
mind than I to this retreat. 

Footprints on the Sand. Defoe. 



LESSON VII. 

MOVEMENT. 

Time is the duration of utterance. 

Bate refers to the general rapidity of reading and speaking. 

Pause refers to the time spent between words, phrases, clauses 
and sentences. 

Quantity refers to the time spent on the words. 

Transition refers to changes that take place in passing from 
one thought-group to another. 

The relative rate is dependent on the length of the pauses, 
rather than on the quantity. 

SLOW RATE. 

(From 60 to 100 words per minute.) 

1. Hear the tolling of the bells — 

Iron bells ! 
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels! 

POE. 

2. I had a dream which was not all a dream: 
The sun was extinguished ; — and the stars 
Did wander darkling in the eternal space, 
Earless and pathless; and the icy earth 
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air; 
Aforn came, and went, and came, and brought no day. 
Darkness. Lord Byron. 

3. Farewell, a long farewell to all my greatness! 
This is the state of man : today he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hope; tomorrow blossoms, 
And bears his blushing honors thick upon him; 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; 
And — when he thinks, good, easy man, full surely, 
His goodness is a-ripening, — nips his root. 
And then he falls, as I do. 
Wolsey's Fall {Henry VIII). Shakespeare. 

4. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before 
the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the world, 
even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 

David. 

5. "I have been thinking all day," said gently the Puritan maiden, 

"Dreaming all night, and thinking all day, of the hedge-rows of 
England 

33 



34 Lessons tx Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 

They are in blossom now, and the country is all Like a garden; 
Thinking of lanes and fields, and the song of the lark and the linnet: 
Seeing the village street, and familiar faces of neighbors. 
Going about as of old, and stopping to gossip together. 
And.' at the end of the street, the village church, with the ivy 
Clinging the old gray tower, and the quiet graves in the churchyard." 
The Courtship of Miles Standish. Longfellow. 

MEDIUM RATE. 

(From 120 to 150 words per minute.) 

1. Hear the mellow wedding-hells, 
Golden bells ! 
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells! 

Poe. 

2. We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths ; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 

We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 
Life is but a means unto an end; that end, — 
Beginning, mean, and end to all things, — God. 
Festus. Bailey. 

3. Let me go where'er I will 
I hear a sky-born music still : 
It sounds from all things old, 
It sounds from all things young, 
From all that's fair, from all that's foul, 
Peals out a cheerful song. 

It is not only in the rose, 
It is not only in the bird. 
Not only where the rainbow glows, 
Nor in the song of women heard, 
But in the darkest, meanest things 
There always, always something sings. 
The Port. R. W. Emerson. 

4. Do unto another what you would he should do unto you-, and do not 
unto another what you would not like if done to yourself. Thou needest 
only this law alone. It is the foundation and principle of all the rest. 

Confucius. 

5. There should be no selfish devotion to private interests. We are 
born not for ourselves only, but for our kindred and fatherland. We 
owe duties not only to those who have benefited, but those who have 
wronged us. We should render to all their due; and justice is due even 
to the lowest of mankind. 

Cicero 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 35 

6. Our danger is that we shall substitute the conscience of others for 
our own. All virtue lies in individual action, in inward energy, in self- 
determination. There is no moral worth in being swept away by a 
crowd, even toward the best of objects. Nothing morally great or good 
springs from imitation. 

W. E. Channing. 

RAPID BATE. 

(From 175 to 200 words per minute.) 

1. Hear the loud alarum bells — 
Brazen bells ! 
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells! 

POE. 

2. Out of the North the wild news came, 
Far flashing on its wings of flame, 
Swift as the boreal light which flies 
At midnight through the startled skies. 
The Revolutionary Rising. T. B. Ried. 

3. Thirty nobles saddled with speed. 
"Hurry ! " 
Each one mounting a gallant steed, 
Which he rode for battle and days of need. 

"0! ride as though you were flying!" 
Spurs were struck in foaming flanks, 
Worn-out chargers staggered and sank; 
Bridles were slackened and girths were burst, 
But ride as they would, the king rode first, 
For the Rose of his Isle lay dying. 
The King of Denmark's Ride. Robert Browning. 

4. In an instant, flash succeeding flash, pours columns of smoke along 
the plain. The iron tempest sweeps, heaping man, horse, and car, in un- 
distinguished ruin. In shouts of rushing hosts, — in shock of breasting 
steeds, — in peals of musketry, in artillery's roar, — in sabres' clash, — in 
thick and gathering clouds of smoke and dust, all human eye, and ear, 
and sense, are lost. Man sees not, but the sign of onset. Man hears 
not, but the cry of — "Onward!" 

The Field of Battle. Hall. 

5. From the west there sounded the harsh gong of the tire engine 
which was pounding rapidly down the car track. It came, rocking in a 
whirlwind of galloping horses and swaying men. The crowd on the 
street broke into a run, streaming along the sidewalk in the wake of the 
engine. The architect awoke from his dead thoughts and ran into the 
crowd. Two, three, four blocks, they sped toward the lake, which curves 
eastward at this point, and as he ran the street became strangely 



36 Lessons in Public Speakixg axd Oral Reading. 

familiar to him. The crowd turned south along a broad avenue that led 
to the park. Someone cried: "There it is! It's the hotel!" 

The Common Lot. Robert Herbick. 

TRANSITION. 

1. Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. 

2. "0 father! I see a gleaming light, say what may it be?" 
But the father answer'd never a word, a frozen corpse was he. 

3. How smooth the sea-beach pebbles are! 
But — do you know? 
The ocean worked a hundred years 
To make them so! 

4. "By the God that made thee, Randolph, 
Tell us what mischance hath come!" 
Then he rifts his riven banner, 
And the asker's voice is dumb. 

5. While we all enjoy the balmy air, the bright sunshine, the social 
pleasantries of wit and humor, and the like; but these are not the fun- 
damental impulses of life. 

Arnold Tompkins. 

6. The hand which had seized the surrendered swords of countless 
thousands was scarcely able to return the pressure of a friendly grasp. 
The voice which had cheered on to triumphant victory the legions of 
American manhood was no longer able to call for the cooling draught which 
slaked the thirst of a fevered tongue. 

The Soldier's Last Salute. Horace Proctor. 

LONG QUANTITY. 

1. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams 
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; 
And the stars never rise but I see the bright eyes 

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; 
And, so, all the night-tide I lie down by the side 
Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride. 
In her sepulchre down by the see — 
In her tomb by the sounding sea. 
Annabel Lee. Edgar A. Poe. 

MEDIUM QUANTITY. 

1. Flower in the crannied wall, 

I pluck you out of the crannies; — 
Hold you here, root and all, in my hand, 
Little flower; — but if I could understand 
What you are, root and all, and all in all. 
I should know what God and man is. 

Tennyson. 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Beading. 37 

SHORT QUANTITY. 

1. I come from haunts of coot and hern, 
I make a sudden sally, 
And sparkle out among the fern, 
To bicker down a valley. 

By thirty hills I hurry down, 

Or slip between the ridges; 
By twenty thorps, a little town, 

And half a hundred bridges. 
The Broolc. Tennyson. 



LESSON VIII. 

FOECE. 

Force is the relative amount of energy used in speaking. 
Loudness is due to the amplitude of the vibration of the vocal 
cords and the resonant chambers. 

Volume refers to the relative amount of vocalized breath. 
Intensity refers to the degree of force used in speaking. 
Stress refers to the manner of applying the force. 

LOUDNESS. 

LOW TOXE. 

1. Softly! She is lying 
With her lips apart. 
Softly! She is dying 
Of a broken heart. 

2. <> balmy breath that dost almost persuade 

Justice to break her sword! Once more, once more. 
Be this when thou ait dead and I will kill thee. 
And love thee after. Once more, and this the last; 
Si i sweet was ne'er so fatal. I must weep, 
But they are cruel tear-: this sorrow's heavenly; 
It strikes where it doth love. She awakes. 
Othello. ■ Shakespeare. 

3. Jean Valjean listened but there was no sound: he pushed the door 
with the tip of his finger lightly. He heard from the end of the room 
the calm and regular breathing of the sleeping bishop. Suddenly he 
stopped fir lie was close to the bed: he had reached it sooner than he 
had anticipated. 

Jean Valjean. Victor Hugo. 

MEDIUM TOXE. 

1. "lis easy enough to look pleasant. 
When life flows along like a song; 
But the man that's worth while 
Is the man who can smile 
When everything goes dead wrong. 

Selected. 

2. How often is it the case, that when impossibilities have come to 
pass, and dreams have condensed their misty substances into tangible 
reality, we find ourselves calm and even coldly self-possessed, amid cir- 
cumstances which it would have been a delirium of joy or agony to 
anticipate. 

Hawthorxe. 
39 



40 Lessons in Public Speaking axd Oral Blading. 

LOUD TONE. 

1. Awake, awake! — 

Ring the alarum-bell. — Murder and treason! — 
Banquo and Donalbain! — Malcolm! awake! 
Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit, 
And look on death itself ! up, up, and see 
The great doom's image! — Malcolm! Banquo! 
As from our graves rise up, and walk like sprites, 
To countenance this horror. Ring the bell. 
Macbeth. Shakespeare. 

2. "Young man, ahoy!" 
"What is it?" 
"Beware! beware! The rapids are below you!" 



What ho, my jovial mates! come on! will frolic it 
Like fairies frisking in the merry moonshine. 



Gough. 



Scott. 



4. Meanwhile the criers were calling the defendant at the four cor- 
ners of the lists. "Oyes! Oyes! Oyes! Richard Drayton, duke of Not- 
tingham, come to this combat in which ye be enterprised to discharge 
your sureties this day before your leige, the King, and to encounter in 
your defense Henry Mansfield, knight, the challenger. Oyes! Oyes! 
Oyes ! Let the defendant come. 

Scott. 

VOLUME. 

SMALL VOLUME. 

1. I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me, 
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see. 
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head; 
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed. 
My Shadow. R. L. Stephenson. 

2. "It's time for me to go that there buryin'-ground, sir," he re- 
turned with a wild look. 

"Lie down and tell me. What burying-ground, Jo?" 

"WTiere they laid him that was good to me; very good indeed, he wos. 
It's time for me to go down to that buryin'-ground, sir, and ask to be 
put along with him. I wants to go there and be buried. He used fur 
to say to me, T am as poor as you today, Jo,' he ses. I wants to tell 
him that I am as poor as him, now, and have come there to be laid 
along with him." 

Death of Little Jo. Dickens. 



Lessors in Public Speaking and Oral Beading. 41 

GREAT VOLUME. 

1. Holy! holy! holy! Lord God of hosts. 

2. Roll on, thou dark and deep blue ocean, roll! 
Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain. 

Tennyson. 

3. Thou, too, sail on, O ship of State; 
Sail on, O Union, strong and great. 
Humanity with all its fears, 
With all its hopes of future years, 
Is hanging breathless on thy fate. 

Longfellow. 

4. Lift up your heads, O ye Gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlast- 
ing doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. 

Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord 
mighty in battle. He is the King of Glory. 

Bible. 
INTENSITY. 

QUIET INTENSITY. 

1. Is it a dream? The day is done. 
The long, warm, fragrant summer day; 

Afar beyond the hills the sun 
In purple splendor sinks away; 

The fire-fly lights her floating spark, 
While here and there the first large stars 
Look out, impatient for the dark. 
The Sunset Song. Elizabeth A. Allen. 

2. The summer moon, which shines on so many a tale was beaming 
over a broad extent of uneven country. Some of its brightest rays were 
flung into a spring of water, where no traveler, toiling, as the writer 
has, up the hilly road beside which it gushes, ever failed to quench his 
thirst. The work of neat hands and considerate art was visible about 
this hlessed fountain. 

Hawthorne, 
moderate intensity. 

1. It's little I can tell 

About the birds in books; 
And yet I know them well, 

By their music and their looks: 
When May comes down the lane, 

Her airy lovers throng 

To welcome her with song, 
And follow in her train: 
Each minstrel weaves his part 



42 Lessons ix Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 

In that wild-flowery strain. 
And I know them all again 
By their echo in my heart. 
The Echo of the Heart. Henry Van Dykf. 

2. My boy, the first thing you want to learn — if you haven't learned 
to do it already — is to tell the truth. The pure, sweet, refreshing, whole- 
some truth. For one thing it will save you so much trouble. Oh, heaps 
of trouble. And no end of hard work. And a terrible strain upon your 
memory. Sometimes — and when I say sometimes I mean a great many 
times — it is hard to tell the truth the first time. But when you have 
told it there is an end of it. You have won the victory; the fight is over. 

Selected. 
energetic degree. 

1. Stand! the ground's your own, my braves! 
Will ye give it up to slaves? 
Will ye look for greener graves ? 

Hope ye mercy still? 
What's the mercy despots feel? 
Hear it in the battle-peal! 
Read it on your bristling steel! 
Ask it, — ye who will. 
Warren's Address. John Pierpoxt. 

2. Here I stand ready for impeachment or trial : I dare accusation. 
I defy the honorable gentleman; I defy the • government; I defy the 
whole phalanx; let them come forth.' I tell the ministers I will neither 
give them quarter nor take it. I am here to lay the shattered remains 
of my constitution on the floor of this House in defense of the liberties 
of my country. 

Invective Against Carry. Hexry Grattax. 

STROXG DEGREE. 

1. Must I budge? Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouch 
under your testy humor? 



Hence ! home, ye idle creatures, get ye home ! 



Shakespeare. 
Shakespeare. 



3. O God Almighty, blessed Saviour, Thou 
That didst uphold me on my lonely isle, 
Uphold me, Father, in my loneliness 
A little longer! aid me, give me strength 
Not to tell her, never to let her know. 
Enoch Arden. Tennyson. 

4. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves 
how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 43 

preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets 
and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we 
shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, that force must be called 
in to win back our love? Let us not be deceived, sir. These are the 
implements of war and subjugation — the last arguments to which kings 
. resort. 

An Appeal to Anus. Patrick Henry. 

STRESS. 

RADICAL STRESS. 

1. Boots, saddle, to horse, and away! 
Rescue my castle before the hot day 
Brightens to blue from its silvery gray. 

Bbowning. 

2. The charge is utterly, totally and meanly false! 

Grattan. 

3. "Now upon tbe rebels, charge."* shouts the red-coat officer. They 
spring forward at the same bound. Look! their bayonets almost touch 
the muzzles of their rifles. At this moment the voice of the unknown 
rider was heard: "Now let them have it! Fire!'' 

Charles Siieppard. 

final stress. 

1. Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more: 
Or close the wall up with our English dead. 

2. Ye gods! ye gods! Must I endure all this? 

3. To bate fish withal: If it will feed nothing else, it will feed 
my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hinder'd me half a million : 
laughed at my losses, mock'd at my gains, scorned my nation: thwarted 
my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies: and what's his 
reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes. Hath not a Jew hands, 
organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, 
hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by 
the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as 
a Christian is? If you prick us. do we not bleed? If you tickle us, 
do we not laugh? If you poison us, do Ave not die? and if you wrong 
p.- shall we not revenge? 

The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare. 



LESSON IX. 

QUALITY. 

Quality refers to the character of the vibration. It is de- 
pendent on the overtones, texture of the vibrating surfaces, and 
the resonance chambers. 

Atmosphere is the general quality of voice required to express 
the purpose of a selection. 

Toxe-color is the emotional modulation of the voice. 

\Y~ord- coloring is suiting the sound to the sense of the word or 
phrase. 

ATMOSPHERE. 

INTELLECTUAL. 

1. All the little boys and girls, 

With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls, 
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls, 
Tripping and skipping, ran merrily after 
The wonderful music, with shouting and laughter. 
The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Browning. 

2. Truth is always congruous, and agrees with itself; every truth in 
the universe agrees with every other truth in the universe; whereas false- 
hoods not only disagree with truth but usually quarrel among themselves. 

Daniel Webster, 
emotional. 

1. Sing loud, bird in the trees! 
O bird, sing loud in the sky! 
And honey-bees blacken the clover seas! 
There are none of you glad as I. 

Ina Coolbreth. 

2. Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, 
Tears from the depth of some divine despair 
Rise to the heart, and gather to the eyes, 
In looking on the happy Autumn-fields, 
And thinking of the days that are no more. 
The Princess. • Tennyson. 

VOLITIONAL. 

1. Freedom calls you! quick, be ready. 

Think of what your sires have done; 
Onward, onward! strong and steady. — 
Drive the tyrant to his den; 

On, and let the watchword be, 
Country, home, and liberty. 
Polish War Song. James G. Percival. 

45 



46 



Lessons ix Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 



2. Therefore. I pray and exhort you not to reject this measure. By 
all you hold most dear, by all the ties that bind every one of us to our 
common order and our common country, I solemnly adjure you, I warn 
you, I implore you, — yea on my bended knees I supplicate you, — reject not 
this bill! 

Lord Brougham. 

TOXE-COLOR AND WORD-COLORIXG. 

Examples for Practice. 

happiness. 

The year's at the spring, 
The day's at the morn; 
Morning's at seven; 
The hill-side's dew-pearled; 
The lark's on the wing ; 
The snail's on the thorn ; 
God's in his heaven — 
All's right with the world. 



Pippa Passes. 



Browning. 



sorrow. 
My days are in the yellow leaf, 

The flowers of love and fruit are gone : 
The worm, the canker, and the grief, 
Are mine alone. 
Latest Verses. Byron. 

admiration. 

sacred forms, how proud you look! 
How high you lift your heads into the sky! 
How huge you are! how might and how free! 
Ye are the things that tower, that shine, — whose smile 
Makes glad, whose frown is terrible, whose forms. 
Robed or unrobed, do all the impress wear 
Of awe divine. 
Tell to His Native Hills. Knowles. 

scorn. 

The leper raised not the gold from the dust: 
"Better to me the poor man's crust 
Better the blessing of the poor 
Though I turn me empty from his door." 
Vision of Sir Launfal. Lowell. 

ADORATION. 

Being above all beings? Mighty One, 

Whom none can comprehend, and none explore. 

Who fill's* existence with Thyself alom — 
Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er, — 
Being whom we call God, and know no more! 
God. G. R. Derziiayln. 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oeal Heading. 47 



Thou hast had shelter under my roof, and warmth at my hearth; 
Thou hast returned evil for good; thou hast smitten and slain the thing 
that loved me and was mine: now hear thy punishment. I curse thee! 
and thou art cursed! May thy love be blasted — may thy name be black- 
ened — may the internals mark thee — may thy heart wither and scorch — 
may thy last hour recall to thee the prophet voice of the sage of Vesuvius. 

Last Days of Pompeii. Lytton. 



The Bridge of Sighs. 



Alas! for the rarity 
Of Christian charity 
Under the sun! 
O, it was pitiful! 
Near a whole city full. 
Home she had none. 



Hood. 



What, shall one of us,. 
That struck the foremost man in all the world 
But for supporting robbers, shall we now 
Contaminate our ringers with base bribes. 
And sell the mighty space of our large honours 
For so much trash as may be grasped thus? 
1 had rather be a dog. and bay the moon, 

Than such a Roman! 
Julius Caesar. Shakespeare. 

COURAGE. 

"Who dares" — this was the patriot's cry, 
As striding from the desk he came — 
"Come out with me in Freedom's name, 
For her to live, for her to die!" 
A hundred hands flung up reply, 
A hundred voices answered, "I." 
The Revolutionary Rising. Eead. 

cowardice. 

Sir Lucius — Well, here they're coming. 

Acres — Sir Lucius — if I wa'n't with you. I should almost think I was 
afraid. — if my valor should leave me! — Valor will come and go. 

Sir Lucius — Then pray keep it fast, while you have it. 

Acres — Sir Lucius, — I doubt it is going — yes my valor is certainly 
going! — it is sneaking off! — I feel it oozing out, as it were, at the palms 
of my hands. 

The Rivals. Sheridan. 



4S' Lessons in Public Speaking axd Oral Beading. 



Oh. and proudly stood she up ! 

Her heart within her did not fail; 
She looked into Lord Ronald's eyes, - 

And told him all her nurse's tale. 
Lady Clare. Tennyson. 

REGRET. 

O, Cromwell. Cromwell! 
Had I served my God with half the zeal 
I served my king, he would not in mine age 
Have left me naked to mine enemies. 
Henry VIII. Shakespeare. 

HOPE. 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; 
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; 
Thy fate is the common fate of all, 
Into each life some rain must fall, 
Some days must be dark and dreary. 
The Rainy Day. Longfellow, 

despair. 

Oh! somewhere, somewhere, God unknown exist and be! 
I am dying; I am all alone; I must have thee. 
God! God! my sense, my soul, my all, dies in the cry; — 
Sawest thou the faint star flame and fall? Ah! it was I. 
Last Appeal (The Infidel's Prayer). Myers. 

defiance. 

But here I stand and scoff you; here I fling 
Hatred and full defiance in your face! 
Your Consul's merciful; — For this all thanks. 
He dares not touch a hair of Catiline! 
Catiline's Defiance. George Croly 

awe. 

change! O wondrous change! 

Burst are the prison-bars! 
This moment there so low, 
So agonized, and now, 

Beyond the stars! 
The Pauper's Death-bed. Soi they. 



In an absolute frenzy of wrath, 1 turned at once upon him, who had 
thus interrupted me, and seized him violently by the collar. He was 
attired, as I had expected, in a costume altogether similar to my own. 
"Scoundrel," I cried, in a voice husky with rage, while every syllable 



Lessons in Public Speaking axd Oral Beading. 4y 

I uttered seemed as new fuel to my fury; "scoundrel! irnposter! ac- 
cursed villain! you shall not — you shall not dog me unto death! Fol- 
low me, or I stab you where you stand!" 

William Wilson. Poe. 

GREED. 

Ah ! could they see 
These bags of ducats, and that precious pile 
Of ingots, and those bars of solid gold, 
Their eyes, me thinks, would water. What a comfort 
It is to see my moneys in a heap 
All safely lodged under my very roof. 
Here's a fat bag: let me untie the mouth of it. 
What eloquence! What beauty! What expression! 
Conld Cicero so plead? Could Helen look 
One half so charming? 
The Miser Fitly Punished. Osborne. 



LESSON X. 

PHYSICAL EXPRESSION. 

Physical expression is a movement of the body that aids in 
expressing the thoughts or emotions of the speaker. Hence there 
are two kinds: (1) Intellectual. (2) Emotional. 

Intellectual gestures are those that aid in expressing the thoughts, 
and have the following divisions: (1) Descriptive: (2) Locative; 
(3) Emphatic, and (4) Question. 

The Emotional gestures vary with the quality of the emotion to 
be expressed. 

CALISTHENICS PREPARATOEY TO GESTURE. 

1. Stand erect, chest prominent, body in easy poise. 

2. Dangle the hands, and shake the arms freely from the 
shoulders (a) at the side: (b) held horizontally in front, and (c) 
horizontally at the side. 

3. Rotate the body on the hip-joints, letting the arms and 
hands swing freely. Begin slowly, turning the trunk and head 
as much as possible, then gradually accelerate until the movement 
is as rapid and energetic as possible. 

4. liaise the upper arm slowly, the forearm and hand trailing. 
Now unfold the arm and hand by consciously vitalizing in turn 
the forearm, wrist, palm, fingers, the hand opening at about the 
level of the hips and midway between the front and side. Prac- 
tice this with the right arm and Hand, then the left, then both 
together. 

5. The same as Xo. 4, except that the hands are to be unfolded 
at about the level of the shoulders. 

6. Practice the foregoing unfolding movement, first with one 
arm and hand, and then with both together, the hands unfolding 
directly in front at first: then, in succession, during five or six 
repetitions, end the movement at varying angles between the front 
and the side. 

;. Move your arm and hand up and down, your wrist pre- 
ceding, letting your hand and fingers bend as the hair of a brush 
when painting. 

8. Imagine von are raising a pound ball held in the palm of 
51 



52 Lessoxs in Public Speakixg axd Oral Reading. 

tHe hand; raise it to a level with the head, then cast it down, 
letting it roll out of the palm and over the fingers. 

9. Practice turning from side to side. First turn your eyes 
to the right, then turn your face in that direction, step back with 
the right foot and as you do so swing your body toward the right 
and at the same time turn the left heel outward. 

10. Turn toward the left in a similar manner. 

EXAMPLES FOR DRILL IN MECHANICS OF GESTURE. 

A. Emphatic Gesture. 

1. I demand to know the truth. 

2. Jack, you are not my friend. 

3. I love him because he is truthful. 

4. It is not worth one cent. 

5. "Too low they build who build beneath the stars." 

6. "This restless world is full of chances." 

7. "Get thee back into the tempest." 

8. "The motive is unworthy" 

9. "Truth gives ivings to strength." 

10. "Trust men and they will be true to you."' 

B. Question Gesture. 

1. What do I care for their opinions? 

2. Is wisdom better than rubies? 

3. Is wisdom the principal thing? 

4. Have I not proved this proposition? 

5. Must I lend you a dollar? 

C. Locative Gesture. 

1. Go! you will find the door open. 

2. I mean you, and you, and you. 

3. Do you see the bird on that twig? 

4. The South is the land of promise. 

5. Two armies were encamped on opposite sides of the river. The 
Federals here, the Constitutionalists, there. A mile down the river was a 
lake. Overhead the sun looked down on the silver stream as it flowed peace- 
fully toward its goal. 

D. Descriptive Gesture. 

1. The hawk swooped down to the ground and carried away a little 
chick. 

2. I plucked a flower from the stem and pulled out its petals one 
by one. 

3. I had rather have lived in a hut with the vines growing over the 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 53 

door and the grapes growing purple in the kisses of the autumn sun, 
with my loving wife knitting by my side as the day died out the sky. 

Ingeksol. 

4. The assassin enters, through the window already prepared, into an 
unoccupied apartment. With noiseless foot he paces the lonely hall half- 
lighted by the moon. He winds up the ascent of the stairs and reaches 
the door of the chamber. He enters and beholds his victim before him. 
The face of the innocent sleeper is turned from the murderer, and the 
beams of the moon, resting on the gray locks of the aged temples, show 
him where to strike. The fatal blow is given. The murderer retreats, 
retraces his steps to the window, passes out through it as he came in, 
and escapes. 

Webster. 

5. She cut his bonds. He stood upright, looked round with a laugh 
of wild exultation, clapped his hands together, sprang from the ground 
as if in transport on finding himself at liberty. He looked so wild that 
Jeanie trembled at what she had done. 

"Let me out," said the young savage. 

"I wanna, unless you promise — " 

"Then I'll make you glad to let us both out." 

He seized the lighted candle and threw it among the flax, which was 
instantly in a flame. Jeanie screamed and ran out of the room; the 
prisoner rushed passed her, threw open a window in the passage, jumped 
into the garden, sprung over its inclosure, bounded through the woods like 
a deer, and gained the seashore. Meantime, the fire was extinguished; 
but the prisoner was sought in vain. 

The Heart of Midlothian. Scott. 

0. The dog new aroused himself and sat on his haunches, his ears 
moving quickly backward and forwards. He kept his eyes fixed on me 
with a look so strange that he concentrated all my attention to himself. 
Slowly he rose up, all his hair bristling, and stood perfectly rigid, and 
with the same wild stare. I had no time, however, to examine the dog. 
Presently my servant emerged from his room; and if I ever saw horror 
in the human face, it was then. He passed by me quickly, saying, in a 
whisper, "Run, Run! it is after me!" He gained the door to the land- 
ing, pulled it open, and rushed forth. I followed him into the landing 
involuntarily, calling him to stop ; but, without heeding me, he bounded 
down the stairs, clinging to the banisters, and taking several steps at a 
time. I heard, where I stood, the street door open, — heard it clap to. 
I was left alone in the haunted house. 

The Haunted and the Haunters. Poe. 

7. A granite cliff on either shore: 
A highway poised in air; 
Above the wheels of traffic roar; 
Below, the fleets sail fair: — 



54 Lessons in Public Speaktxg axd Oral Reading. 



And in and out, forever more, 
The surging tides of ocean pour, 
And past the towers the while gulls soar, 
And winds the sea-clouds bear. 
The Brooklyn Bridge. Proctor. 

8. "'And now depart! and when 

Thy heart is heavy, and thine eyes are dim, 
Lift up thy prayer .beseechingly to Him 

Who, from the tribes of men, 
Selected thee to feel his chastening rod, 
Depart! O leper! and forget not God!'' 
The Leper. Willis. 

E. Emotional Gestures. 

1. Let a number of students get on the stage and look intently at 
some object. Have criticisms come from the class. 

2. Bring to the class a written report of your observations of the 
'•foot work" of some speaker. 

3. Observe a group of children playing. Imitate before the class the 
physical expression of some one child and have the class determine the 
mood illustrated. 

4. Have each student in turn express bodily certain general types of 
emotions, as: Joy, Grief, Love, Hate, Courage, Fear, Hope, Despair, 
Defiance, Anger. Surprise. 





APPENDIX 






REPRESENTATIVE EMOTIONS. 


Posit ire 


Negative 


Positive 


Negative 


Pleasure 


pain 


Self-esteem 


humility 


Contentment 


discontent 


Conceit 


modesty 


Cheerfulness 


depression 


Hauteur 


lowliness 


Merriment 


disappointment 


Vanity 


meekness 


Gladness 


sadness 


Pride 


shame 


Delight 


melancholy 


Complacency 


regret 


•Happiness 


sorrow 


Elation 


remorse 


Joy 


grief 


Arrogance 


dejection 


Bliss 


distress 


Exaltation 


anguish 


"Rapture 


despondency 






Ecstasy 


misery 


Resignation 


uneasiness 






Confidence 


suspicion 


Like 


dislike 


Belief 


disbelief 


Admiration 


scorn 


Trust 


doubt 


Love 


hate 


Faith 


worry 


Honor 


ridicule 


Hope 


despair 


Reverence 


abhoi rence 


Triumph 


desperation 


Idolization 


profanation 










Emotions N 


ot Contrasted 


Sympathy 


antipathy 






Compassion 


disdain 


Firmness 


annoyance 


Mercy 


aversion 


Determination 


vexation 


Pity 


disgust 


Defiance 


indignation 

resentment 


Ease 


anxiety 


Attention 


anger 


Boldness 


timidity 


Interest 


revenge 


Assurance 


alarm 


Enthusiasm 


wrath 


Bravery 


fear 


Desire 


rage 


Courage 


cowardice 


Longing 


fury 


Heroism 


terror 


Yearning 


ill-will 






Surprise 


envy 






Wonder 


jealousy 






Astonishment 


greed 






Awe 


a varice 






55 





56 Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Reading. 

QUESTIONS AXD DIRECTIONS FOE A WRITTEN RE- 
PORT PRELIMINARY TO ITS ORAL PRESENTATION. 

I. The Author. 

1. Who was the author? 

2. Tell biiefly what you know of his life? 

3. Name some of his best productions. 

4. What was his temperament? Was he thoughtful, melan- 
choly, pleasant, kind, sociable, sorrowful, cynical, optimistic, pes- 
simistic ? 

5. What were the immediate circumstances in his life that led 
him to write the selection, or deliver the speech? 

II. The Atmosphere, or General Setting. 

1. Where is the scene laid? When? 

2. Local color, — surroundings, characters interested, etc. 

3. When the selection was written or spoken, was the author 
in a happy mood, or was he sorrowful, penitent, angry ? hopeful, 
or what emotion or emotions best describes his feelings? 

4. Is the general purpose of the selection didactic, emotional, 
or volitional? 

5. Of what incidents or emotions in your past life does this 
remind you ? 

III. General Analysis. 

1. Classify the selection. Is it a lyric poem, essay, oration, 
lecture, monologue, or what? 

2. What is the theme of the selection? This frequently is not 
the subject. 

3. What is the embodiment, if any ? That is, what mechanism 
or means does the author use to convey this theme ? 

4. Do the paragraphs or stanzas mark the natural thought 
divisions ? 

5. Determine the central thought in each logical paragraph. 

6. Name the rhythm. Is it appropriate? Why? 

7. What general picture comes to your mind when you read 
this selection ? 

8. What scenes can you most vividly imagine? Are they 
visual, auditory, motor, or what? 



Lessons in Public Speaking and Oral Keading. 57 

IV. Detailed Analysis. 

1. Determine the meaning of each word and phrase; explain 
all historical, geographical, and classical allusions. 

2. Determine the meaning of each sentence. Paraphrase the 
more difficult sentences. 

3. What word, phrase, or clause in each sentence expresses the 
principal idea? 

4. What words or phrases lend themselves to word-coloring? 

V. Mechanical Aids. 

1. Copy the entire selection, or such parts as may be deemed 
expedient. 

2. What successive words should be grouped together? That 
is, where should the pauses come? 

3. Indicate these pauses by vertical bars (|). This should 
include stops at the end of the sentence. Use one ( | ) , two ( 1 1 ) , 
or three ( 1 1 j ) bars to indicate the relative length of the pauses. 

4. What word, words, phrase, or clause in each sentence con- 
veys the principal idea ? the new idea ? the compared or contrasted 
ideas? Underscore such words. Degrees of emphasis may be in- 
dicated by the number of lines used. 

5. Eecall the various rules for inflection and mark the inflected 
words appropriately. 

6. How many climaxes are there? Are they all of the same 
degree? Indicate them with this sign: < 

VI. Expression. 

1. What is the normal key of this selection? (High, medium, 
or low.) 

2. What general movement is appropriate? (Fast, medium, 
or slow.) 

3. What degree of intensity should be used? of loudness? of 
volume ? Why ? 

4. What general quality of voice is demanded? (Intellectual, 
spiritual, or vital.) 

5. What changes of pitch are suggested in the various sen- 
tence? ? 

6. Indicate changes of thought by changes in pitch, movement, 
volume, loudness, intensity, quality, etc. 



58 Lessons in Public Speaking axd Oral Reading; 

7. Place yourself in the author's position. Use your imagina- 
tion to place yourself there. Look at the selection from his point 
of view as much as you can. 

8. Eead or speak the selection as though you were in the 
author's place. But do not imitate him. Be yourself. Do not he 
satisfied with one reading, or with ten. Master the selection. 
Reproduce it the best you can. 

Just how much of the above outline should be required in 
written form will vary with each selection and with the progress 
of each pupil. The pupil should determine this in consultation 
with the instructor. LTsually it will not be expedient to present 
written answers to Section VI. 



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